Fraudsters continue to con Lincolnshire residents as further reports come in

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Published:16:09Friday 13 April 2018

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Lincolnshire Police has warned that victims targeted by fraudsters impersonating police officers may have handed over more than £9,000 in one go.

Last week, Lincolnshire Police released information about the numbers of reports received relating to vulnerable people being targeted by fraudsters impersonating police officers and sadly, those numbers are continuing to rise.

This week, the force has received a further six reports of this type of fraud in the East of the county.

The majority of those were recognised as being a scam and reported straight to us however in some cases individuals have handed over upwards of £9000 to fraudsters.

This offence involves victims being told to purchase high value goods or to withdraw large amounts of cash to hand over to a police officer who will visit their address to collect it, at a later time.

The fraudsters allege the goods or the money are counterfeit items.

Nick Bates, of Preventing Financial Fraud and an Op Revive Coordinator with Lincolnshire Police, said: “We are doing all we can to raise awareness about this type of fraud because it’s one of the most distressing for victims because, by its very nature, it targets people who are vulnerable.

“Sadly, another victim lost thousands this week and we want to try and ensure that doesn’t happen again.

“It’s all about awareness and feeling comfortable to report anything suspicious to us.

“Police will never ask you to ever buy anything or hand over cash to an officer so if you are asked to do that you are likely to be talking to a criminal. “Please do not do as they ask and report that to us immediately.

“If you have any friends or family who are elderly or vulnerable please pass this message on to them to make them aware.”

If you have been contacted by anyone claiming to be a police officer who is asking you to buy goods or hand over cash, or would like to report anything of this nature to authorities, call 101 or report to Action Fraud on 0300 1232040.